WSVN — Their association ordered the residents to chop down their big oak trees or the City of Sunrise would slap a lien on their property. Can a group force you to cut down trees in your yard? And did the city really threaten the residents? It’s why they called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Tensy and her family moved to this Sunrise neighborhood 19 years ago, and it’s been everything they wanted.
Tensy Rothman: “The neighbors are great. There is little crime. I mean, it’s a very desirable place to live.”
It’s a beautiful neighborhood — in part because of the tall oak trees.
Tensy Rothman: “The whole neighborhood is full of oak trees everywhere. Every single community inside the Residences of Sawgrass has oak trees.”
Then all the residents in the Osprey Association got a letter from the management company regarding their 25-year-old oak trees.
Tensy Rothman: “The trees need to come down, and if they don’t come down, Sunrise code enforcement will fine us, that they will put a lien on their property.”
The association then started chopping down trees in the common area, 16 in total. Tensy could not believe what she was seeing.
Tensy Rothman: “Honestly, at first I was sad. I am a teacher, and the environment is important to me, and to have these trees taken down is horrendous.”
The association claimed the oak trees, planted when the neighborhood was built, were damaging the sidewalks and could crack the road, so they had to go. Tensy’s reply: “Then let’s redo the sidewalks and leave the trees alone.”
Tensy Rothman: “Homeowners are willing to fix the sidewalks. We are willing to put root blockers in to prevent the roots from going into the street. We are willing to do what we need to do to keep our neighborhood beautiful.”
But after being told the City of Sunrise could slap a lien on their property for not chopping down the trees, several residents did what they were asked to do.
Tensy Rothman: “In one street alone, there are 10 houses that have already taken down their trees based on that letter that the association sent.”
But Tensy and her husband didn’t obey the association.
Tensy Rothman: “First, you can’t replace it. This tree has been here for 25 years.”
Well, Howard, can the Osprey Association force residents to take down these 25-year-old oak trees?
Howard Finkelstein: “No, they can’t, because the trees belong to the homeowner. And if the tree roots damage an adjacent property or the road, the owner of the tree is not responsible. They only have to repair the sidewalk if the roots damage that.”
Turns out the association did get permits from Sunrise to chop down 16 trees in the common area. They told Sunrise it was for a beautification project. However, some of the 10 residents who chopped down their trees did not get a permit.
Then Sunrise’s mayor found out what was going on and was not happy the city was being used to threaten residents. Mike Ryan emailed the association saying the city is not condoning this plan and did not threaten code enforcement if the trees were not removed.
So how did the false threats get into the letter?
The management company said it was a mistake. The letter, drafted by the president of the board, misquoted information from the city from a 2009 issue.
The management company then sent out a second letter to homeowners saying, at this time, homeowners do not need to take any action to remove their tree. However, it goes on to say, “You may be required to remove and replace your tree if it causes damage to the sidewalk or road.”
Howard Finkelstein: “Again, no, they don’t have to cut down their oak trees. And if you are one of the 10 homeowners who felt pressured to cut your oak tree down, you can go to court and sue the management company and the homeowners association for either violating their fiduciary responsibility or sending out a false letter which is plain negligent.”
Tensy won’t remove her three oak trees, not now, not ever.
Tensy Rothman: “They can tell me to fix the sidewalk, which I am perfectly willing to do, but they cannot tell me to remove my tree.”
And remember that if your association tries to force you to cut down your trees, don’t let them.
Now, the residents who chopped down their trees have to get a permit after the fact, but they won’t be fined for cutting down the oak trees without permission, and each tree cut down has to be replaced, but as Tensy said, it’s like putting in sticks to replace beautiful 25-year-old trees.
Got a headache that has you stumped? Want to grind it down to size? Contact us. You would associating with us ’cause we won’t uproot you. With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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